Jimmy Neutron and the Rise of Xyzcek
by Jack Coffison
Summary: (Sequel to 'Xyzcek Aden') As Jimmy begins to piece his life back together, a great darkness descends upon the universe. - J/C S/L Rated T
1. Prologue

Prologue: Jimmy Neutron and the Seeker of Darkness

_Over A Year Before the Events of 'Xyzcek Aden'_

Retroland was the all time greatest source of fun that any kid could ever imagine. There were dozens of rides and stands, all filled with just the right amount of blinking lights, danger and excitement. For most of the kids of Retroville, it was the place that dreams were made of.

But, Retroland was a completely different place when they turned off the lights. On the off days, it became infinitely foreboding. The giant octopus, the big screaming bats, even the butterfly rides- they all took on a completely different atmosphere when they were coated in shadow.

So, it was really only natural that Retroland began to spawn its own mythos among the townspeople. Especially the children. Once the lights went off, Retroland was the 'most haunted place in Retroville'. There were countless stories of ghosts, curses, witches and more. Of course, there were sceptics. People who thought that the whole thing was 'malarkey' or 'hornswoggle' or some other word that nobody used in real life. And unfortunately for Carl and Sheen, they were best friends with one of them.

Jimmy Neutron was only eleven at the time. He and his friends had come to investigate the 'Haunted Retroland' stories for the fourth time that year. The first time had been to investigate the so-called 'Phantom of Retroland', a vengeful, murderous spirit- with a salami leg. The second time was to investigate claims that an alien was living there, and leaving massive clumps of back-hair wherever he went. That turned out just to be Bolbi. He and his twin sister had been having shish kebab barbeques at night in the park.

The third case had been one of the more dangerous. There had been reports that the rides had been moving on their own free will during the night. Just a few inches at a time. Then, some of them would go missing- and then come right back as if nothing had happened. It turned out, that some of the Neutronic micro-chips that had been placed inside the rides during their brief tenure as rocket ships, had managed to gain their own form of sentience. And the rides eventually evolved into a new kind of robotic species.

At first, they tried to take over the world. But eventually, and after a great deal of destruction, Jimmy had managed to get the rides to agree to leave- and pursue a new way of life somewhere in the deepest recesses of space. Unfortunately, that also landed Jimmy in some hot-water with the owner of Retroland, and Jimmy, Carl and Sheen were forced to take up several part-time jobs to help pay for new rides. Luckily for them, the debt was probably only going to last a few hundred years or so.

And that brings us back to the fourth, and final investigation of Retroland by Carl, Sheen and Jimmy.

"Jimmy... Can you, um, remind me why we're here again? Aren't we banned from being here or something?" asked Carl.

Jimmy shook his head. "Of course not, Carl. That was just a _suggestion_. There'll be no legal ramifications whatsoever. As long as we don't get caught." he explained.

"Yeah, Carl. Haven't you ever watched TV? It's only the bad guys who get caught who go to jail. The rest of 'em are all relaxing at the beach or whatever. Enjoying the many rewards of a life of crime." said Sheen.

"That's... Not exactly my point Sheen. Look, I promise. This'll be the last time we ever break into Retroland at night, okay?" asked Jimmy. Carl thought for a moment, and sighed. "Can't we just stop breaking into places at night all together?" he asked. Sheen scoffed. "C'mon, Carl! Where's the fun in that!?" he asked.

After passing through the same hole in the chain-link fence that they always passed through, the boys stepped into Retroland. They were all armed with flashlights, and small cameras to take pictures of whatever they encountered. They huddled together as a group, as they made their way down the pathway. As always, Carl was definitely the most afraid. Sheen was somewhere between excited and scared for his life, and Jimmy was doing his best to remain calm and focused. Finally, they reach the middle of the park, and Jimmy turned to face Carl and Sheen. Then, he said what they were both dreading to hear.

"Alright, let's split up. Carl, you go over to the Puke-a-torium. Sheen, you go to the hall of Infinite Pain, Misery and Mirrors. I'll go to the Bat Outta Heck." said Jimmy. Sheen twitched. "How come I always have to go to places with the words 'pain' and 'misery' in them?" he demanded. Jimmy shrugged.

"Why do we even have to split up in the first place?" asked Carl. "Yeah! That's like, how _all _horror movies start! And then, it's always super cool Mexican kid who gets killed first!" yelled Sheen. "And I don't know if I've mentioned this before- but I'm _super _cool!"

"Why are we even doing this in the first place?" asked Carl. "This isn't another one of those bets between you and Cindy is it?" he asked.

Jimmy flinched, and immediately broke out in a sweat. "What!? No! Cindy has nothing to with anything! I was dared to come here and investigate some mysterious markings- by some completely different girl who I have new and confusing feelings for..." he trailed off, and twitched again. "Now- Let's stop talking about Cindy. I need you guys to keep an eye out for any weird markings. If you find any- take a picture for evidence, okay?" he asked.

Carl and Sheen sighed, and nodded.

And so, the trio split up.

* * *

><p>Almost a thirty minutes had passed since Carl had reached the Puke-a-torium, and he was now head back to their meet-up spot. So far, he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. Still that didn't stop him from taking a few nervous puffs from his inhaler. Despite having one of the worlds biggest sceptics of the paranormal world as a best friend, Carl still believed in all manner of mystical creature.<p>

From Pixies to Unicorns. To him, they were all about as real as the egg-people from outer space. Carl took another puff from his inhaler, and kept walking. It seemed like it was getting even darker, and he couldn't help but feel like somebody was watching him.

Suddenly- here was a flash of movement. Carl stopped in his tracks with a small sqeak. He looked around for a moment, and shuddered.

"H-hello? Is... Is there some kinda hideous monster out there... waiting to eat me?" he muttered.

There was another flash of movement.

Very slowly, Carl kept on walking. Step by step, doing his best not to let himself fall into a panic attack. He tried to hold his breath. Then- there was a sudden flash of light.

"AAAAAHHH!" screamed Carl, holding the flashlight in front of him.

"AAAAAHHH!" screamed Sheen, who was doing the same thing. They screamed at for a while, until they finally realised that they were aiming their torches at each other.

"Sheen?" muttered Carl.

"AAAAAH! AAAAAH! AAA- Carl?" asked Sheen.

They stood there for a moment in perfect silence, before breaking into awkward laughter. "Oh, ha... ha... I, uh- knew it was you the whole time, dude." said Sheen. Carl nodded, slowly. "Uh-huh... Me too... Hey, uh- Random question, but do you, um... have a spare set of underwear?" he asked.

Sheen slowly shook his head. "Can't help ya, man."

* * *

><p>While Sheen and Carl made their way back to the meet-up point in awkward silence, Jimmy was staring at something he had found on the pathway.<p>

A giant symbol. It looked lie it had been spray painted with read paint. Jimmy kept his flashlight on it, and took a picture. "Hmm... I've never seen this kind of symbol before.. It's not Egyptian... Or Celtic..." he muttered. "In fact, it looks vaguely... _alien_."

He frowned. He scanned the rest of the area with his flashlight. There were a few more, spread out further and further into the distance. "Well, this either a real mysterious phenomenon... Or Vortex just set all of this up as some kinda prank. Either way... I'm probably not going to find out unless I keep looking..." he muttered. With a small nod, he began to follow the marks.

They were almost all different, nad they all seemed to twist into themselves, and then burst out a little from the middle. In the markings, Jimmy could see little numbers painted in with different colors. Finally, he reached what looked like the last of the markings. Just outside an attraction called 'The Cave of Mystery'.

Jimmy frowned. All of the marking seemed to be pointing in that direction. He took a deep breath, and gripped his flashlight a little tighter. "I guess... I'm supposed to go inside..." he muttered. He rubbed his forehead. "This is probably a very bad idea..." he mumbled, as he stepped through the entrance of the Cave of Mystery.

He kept walking for a while. As far as he could tell, the whole place was really just a long cement tunnel that lead to nowhere in particular. There was really nothing 'mysterious' about it at all. After walking a while longer, he finally stopped.

"This is ridiculous. I bet she just set this up so I'd wind up walking around for hours on another one of her wild goose chases. Well enough is enough. I'm going home." he said. "I'm not gunna be stuck running around all night for one of her little _games_." he growled.

He turned to leave. Then- his flashlight fizzled out.

Everything went dark. As Jimmy tried to get the flashlight working again, everything around him began to spin. Jimmy froze. He could feel something out there. Something... cold. "Wha- Who's there!?" he yelled.

**"I've come to see the 'core' of this world."**

Jimmy blinked. "H-... Huh?"

**"This world has been connected..."**

Jimmy grit his teeth. "Who are you? What're you talking about?" he demanded.

**"Tied, to the darkness. **

**Soon to be completely eclipsed..."**

"Show yourself!" yelled Jimmy. He suddenly felt a chill rush through his entire body. It took him a while to see it- but there, standing just a few feet away, was a brown coat. Darkness was covering it's face, along with almost everything else. But he could still make out the shape. "Wh-... Where did you come from?" he asked.

**"You do not yet know... What lies beyond the 'core'.**

**There is so very much to learn. **

**You understand so little..."**

Jimmy grit his teeth. "Oh yeah? Well, you'll see! I'll go out there and learn everything there is to know!" he yelled.

**"A meaningless effort...**

**One who knows nothing can understand nothing..."**

Jimmy felt his chest start to tighten, and his hands began to ball up into fists. He opened his mouth to say something- when his flashlight suddenly flickered back to life. He held it in front of him. But- there was nothing there.

* * *

><p>Carl and Sheen had been waiting for Jimmy for a while. Finally, he arrived, looking sweaty, and gasping for breath. "Oh, no! Jimmy! Did you see the monster!?" yelled Carl. Jimmy shook his head, and wiped some of the sweat off of his forehead. "No... I just... I ran here..." he muttered. "Boy... I should really look into maintaining my physical health on a greater basis..." he continued.<p>

"What happened then, Jimmy?" asked Sheen.

Jimmy composed himself as best he could. "Did you guys see any symbols or anything?" he asked.

Carl and Sheen shook their heads.

Jimmy grinned. "Alright then... Check this out!" he announced. He pulled his camera out of his pocket, and showed Carl and Sheen the screen on the back. Jimmy quickly skipped through some of the photo's, including a shot of Cindy with a flower in her hair that Carl and Sheen politely pretended not to see.

Finally, he reached the most recent photo on the camera.

"See! This is one of the markings- and there were a whole lot more back there!" said Jimmy. Carl and Sheen blinked. "Uh... Jim? Are the markings invisible?" asked Carl.

Jimmy frowned. "No- they were..." he trailed off. There, on the screen- was a picture of the pathway. No symbol to be seen.

"It's okay, Carl. Jimmy's just finally gone banana's, that's all. Welp- let's take him to the loony-bin!" yelled Sheen. "I'll take his legs. You take the head!". Jimmy sent him a glare. "No, Sheen- It was right there..." he muttered.

"Well, Jimmy... It's been kind of a long night... Maybe... You only thought you saw it..." suggested Carl.

Jimmy frowned, as he stared at the camera screen. "... Yeah... Maybe so..." he muttered.

"Okay! Well, that's one more investigation solved by the Three- wait for it..." said Sheen. Jimmy and Carl glanced at each other. A few quiet, awkward seconds ticked by. "AMIGOPS!" yelled Sheen.

Jimmy and Carl cringed and rubbed their ears. "Alright, guys... You wanna stay at the lab tonight and watch a movie?" asked Jimmy.

Carl and Sheen grinned. "Sure!" they answered, in perfect unison.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One light, split into two.<strong>_

_**One faded away, as the other grew.**_

_**Light.**_

_**Dark.**_

_**They can not co-exist.**_

_**They are simply too different.**_

_**When one is consumed, and the other has won...**_

_**What will our universe look like then?**_

_**- **__From the Journals of Christopher J. Neutron, 1747  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Jimmy Neutron and the New Beginning

The Retroville Dump was a seemingly endless wasteland of trash. There were big piles of almost anything you could imagine. There was a pile of old rusty bicycles, a pile of cracked garden gnomes, a pile of microwaves, and a pile of dirty diapers that had been cut off from the rest of the area with a long yellow tape that read 'Biohazard'.

Everything that anybody in Retroville had ever owned eventually wound up at the dump. And as such, it was a virtual heaven on Earth for scrap hunters. There were thousands of hidden treasures scattered all over the place. All you had to do was look for them- and invest in a good pair of nostril inhibitors.

Jimmy Neutron had been combing the area with a clothes peg on his nose for quite some time now. He had already found more bits and pieces than his little red wagon could carry- but he still needed one last thing.

Many years ago, when he first set out to build his lab underneath the clubhouse, the dumb had been an invaluable resource. All it really took was a good sanitizing and a genius level IQ to figure out a way to get the various toasters, microwaves and old computers to work again. And then, just a lot of rewiring and welding to get it all to fit together- and Jimmy could make almost anything he could think of. He had built rocket ships, robots and many of his gadgets that way. And after a while, he was able to make things look brand new again. To the point that, looking around his lab- it would be difficult to figure out that everything was built with almost one hundred percent recycled materials.

Jimmy climbed over a pile of old purple flurp cans, in order to get to the old computers. There were hundreds of them. The reason there were so many of them was no doubt due to the fact that there were new computer models being released every month. This was good for Jimmy- but bad for any Retroville citizen who wanted to stay 'up to date'.

"Okay..." he muttered to himself. "I'll need a newer model for this... And I'll need to get a few of them too... Maybe... Twelve?"

He thought to himself for a moment, before letting out a tired sigh. "This was so much easier with Goddard and the guys..." he muttered. He was silent for a while. Then, he suddenly snapped back to work. Day dreaming wasn't going to make things go any quicker.

As the sun set in the distance, Jimmy dragged his wagon-full of junk back into town. He hadn't removed the clothes-pin yet, and he wasn't planning on doing so until he had a shower. Or four. He would have to wash all of the junk too- which was probably going to take all night. He knew that if he left it too long, his mom was going to get suspicious. Not that she wasn't already.

It had been several weeks since Jimmy had 'returned' to Retroville. During that time, he had mostly been in the clubhouse- doing his best rebuild his lab. It was a difficult job. Long ago, there had been a massive source of water underneath what was now the Neutrons backyard. It had been sucked dry over time, leaving a great big pocket underground. Miraculously, it had stayed that way for hundreds of years, until the Neutrons had moved in.

The 'clubhouse' was originally an outhouse, leading directly to the underground pocket. Jimmy hadn't known that when he claimed the place as his new 'clubhouse', and his parents were nice enough not to tell him. Building the lab underground the first time had been incredibly difficult. But- it was made much easier with Goddards help. And later, the help of Sheen and Carl. Eventually, he had managed to expand the lab even further, until even he wasn't sure how big it was.

But now, he had to start from scratch.

It was dark by the time Jimmy finally dragged his wagon next to the clubhouse, and covered it with a big blue tarp. He shivered, as he slowly made his way into the house. The nights seemed to be getting colder and colder recently, which was making it even harder for him to work at night. But no matter how many sweaters he had to wear, and no matter how annoying it was not to make any noise so as to avoid waking his parents, Jimmy wasn't going to stop. He had to get the lab finished. Without it, he'd be completely defenceless if the town was attacked by some insane super-villain.

And in Retroville, that was only a matter of time.

Jimmy crept into the house as quietly as he could. Then, he went into his room and picked up a clean set of clothes, before sneaking into the shower. He could hear his parents talking downstairs, but that didn't stop his from being cautious. It wasn't until he felt the a refreshing stream of warm water over his face that he finally let his guard down.

The aches and pains in his arms and his legs began to fade away, as he took a deep breath. His body needed rest. Desperately. He sighed. He had been working non-stop, ever since he had come back from re-creating the universe. But the fact that he seemed to not have any time for rest or sleep wasn't his biggest source of irritation. It was that no matter how physically exhausted he would get after a long day moving things underground, his entire frame was still all... puny. It was superficial, he knew, but shouldn't he have gotten some muscles by now? Or at the very least, gotten just a bit taller? After all, he wanted to make an impression when he finally nerved himself to walk across the street and talk to-

"Jimbo? Is that you in there?" Hugh's voice came from the other side of the bathroom door. Jimmy blinked, and cleared his throat. "Um... Yes?" he asked. "Dinner's ready! You'd better get down here quick, your mother made lasa-na-something!" said Hugh.

"You mean lasagna?"

"That's the one! Come on- you don't wanna let it get cold, do you?"

"I'll be right out..."

Jimmy turned off the water, and stepped out of the shower. He had managed to use enough soap that it would be hard to tell that he had spent the entire day at the dump. Thankfully, his mom always bought the strongest soaps available. Jimmy dried himself with a towl, and gave his head one quick shake. There was a small 'whip!', as all of a sudden, his hair sprung back to life.

He changed into his clean clothes (a pair of blue pants and a red shirt with a yellow atom symbol on it. An exact copy of the clothes he had just shed.) And then left the bathroom.

The dining room was filled with some of the most tantalising smells known to man, as everybody sat at the table to eat. Jimmy felt a wave of insatiable hunger rush through his body. 'Oh, yeah... I haven't eaten today.' he thought. Jimmy took a seat, and stared hungrily at the food on his plate. He picked up his fork- and was just about to dive in, when his mother spoke.

"So, Jimmy, how was your day?" she asked.

Jimmy twitched. "Uh... give me a minute." he said. In a flurry of movement, Jimmy managed to cram everything on his plate into his mouth, and swallow it. After a few seconds, everything was gone. And he was greedily licking his plate, when he noticed the looks his parents were giving him. Jimmy sheepishly put the plate down on the table, and cleared his throat.

"Uh... My day was okay." he said. Judy frowned. "What did you do?" she asked. Jimmy thought for a moment. "I, uh- you know... Just looked around." he said.

"Is that so?"

Jimmy nodded.

Judys frown quickly turned into a look of concern. "Are you okay, Jimmy?" she asked. Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay." he said. And he meant it, too. For the most part. Judy bit her bottom lip. She gave Hugh a look, and then turned her attention back to Jimmy. "Do you... Remember anything... About your parents, Jimmy?" she asked. Her voice was as quiet as a whisper, but it was enough to make Jimmy freeze. He looked down, and shook his head.

"No... I... Geuss not..." he muttered.

"I'm sorry, Jimmy... I know it's hard, but-"

Jimmy got out of his chair, cutting her off mid-sentance. The room went silent, until Jimmy finally spoke. "I'll take my plate to the sink..." he muttered. He walked into the kitchen with the plate in his hand, and carefully placed it next to the sink. His mother turned to him. "Jimmy, I-"

But, Jimmy pretended not to hear her, and walked out the backdoor.

Judy went silent, and looked at her husband. "I... I shouldn't have done that..." she muttered. "I know how hurt he gets when I ask him about that..."

Hugh gave her comforting smile. "It's alright, sugar-booger. He'll remember when he's ready."

Jimmy kicked the ground, and sighed. "I acted like some kinda dramatic teen..." he grimaced. "I've gotta make it up to her somehow... I know she means well, it's just-... It's been a while now. And... Neither of them seem to remember who I am..."

He sighed again.

"Maybe I'll try to make her something. A juicer maybe? Or... An automatic vacuum? Hmm... It's gotta be something I know won't wind up destroying the house..." he muttered. Jimmy paused. Nothing he had ever invented was guaranteed not to destroy the house. And that was with the lab working at full capacity.

"Maybe... I'd better just buy something." he muttered. He thought for a while, and nodded. That would probably be the best option.

"Alright... Well, I'll go down town tomorrow. Until then... I've got a new load of junk to clean." he said. With that, Jimmy flexed his fingers, and got to work.

Jimmy let out a long, tired yawn.

He had meant to go right to sleep once he was done cleaning everything. But, just as always- he found himself back underground hard at work, as the sun rose over Retroville. He rubbed his face with his sleeve, and finished twisting together a few loose wires. Once that was done, he walked over to his desk and began typing on his keyboard. The giant computer screen in front of him lit up.

Finally, Jimmy took a deep breath. 'Master Program; Voxx 2.0... Launch.' he typed.

The screen went dull for a moment. Just as disappointment began to swell up, the screen lit up again.

"Welcome home, Jimmy." a voice called out, echoing throughout the entire room. Jimmy grinned. "Voice command test. Vox! Can you hear me?" he yelled.

"Voice command recognition confirmed. Well done, Jimmy!" said Vox.

Jimmy carefully stepped away from his desk, and took a deep breath. "YES! IT WORKED!" he yelled. He thrust his fists into the air, and jumped up and down in celebration. He was one big step closer to being finished. "This calls for celebration! Voxx! I'm going to go to bed!" he announced.

"Very good, Jimmy. Databanks are ready to connect to nearby satellites in order to obtain information. Would you like me to proceed while you rest?" asked Voxx.

Jimmy nodded. "Good idea, Voxx!" he said. "Commence data retrieval as soon as you can. I'd like to see the full ramifications of my brief removal from existence."

"Of course. Good night, Jimmy."

"Good night, Voxx."

Jimmy took the elevator up to the clubhouse with a satisfied smile. He had been working incredibly hard recently. However long it had been, it all felt like a blur. He didn't want to just recreate the lab, he wanted to improve it. And with the way things were going... he might just achieve that.

'The Neutron Lab 2.0. Oh yeah, I'm going to do so much science in there...' he thought to himself, as he made his way to the back door of the Neutron home. Suddenly, he stopped.

"Mom's present..." he muttered to himself. 'If I go to sleep... I probably won't wake up before everything closes...' he thought. He was quiet for a while. Then let out a long, tired groan. "Okay, just one... last... thing..." he muttered. "Now... I guess I'd better have some coffee."

* * *

><p>The Retroville library was completely void of any signs of human life, save for the librarian who was currently fast asleep at the front desk. In the age of the internet, libraries were slowly becoming a thing of the past. And their new advertising slogan, 'Books are radical, man!' had done little to help the situation.<p>

Still, the public library did have one use. It had become the best spot in town for secret just as Jimmy was reluctantly downing a cup of coffee halfway across Retroville, one of those 'secret meetings' was just starting.

There were two people. An older looking man, dressed as casually as possible, (which apparently included a bright Hawaiian shirt) and a pair of black sunglasses, and a girl wearing a school uniform. He was sitting on one of the old library chairs, holding a small envelope in his hand. She was standing in front of him, with her hands on her hips.

"Is that it?" she demanded.

The man sighed. "You know- it wouldn't kill ya to start with a little small talk. 'How was your day?' 'Are those new sunglasses?' that kinda thing." he said.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Fine. How are you? Is that my new assignment?" she growled. The man chuckled to himself. "That's better. It's all about people skills, ya see." he said.

The girl frowned at him.

He shrugged and reached out his hand with the envelope. She practically ripped it out of his hands, and opened it. Inside, there was only a small photograph. She frowned. "What's this?" she asked. The man shrugged again. "Some high orders came down to keep an eye on him. Apparently, ol' Baker took it upon himself to request you personally for this one." he said.

The girl frowned. It was a picture of a boy with long brown hair, curved upwards into some kind of fudge-like state. He had a big head to go a long with it, and a pair of dark sapphire blue eyes. She bit her lip. "Who is he?" she asked.

The man shrugged again. "Calls himself 'Jimmy'. We don't have any records of him anywhere. Neither does anybody else. So as far as history is concerned, this kid doesn't exist." he said.

"I see..." she muttered.

The man raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter? You look a little pale." he said.

"N-... no. It's nothing. So, what- am I supposed to spy on him after school or something?" she asked.

"Eh- Whenever you've got the time. Baker seems to think that he might be connected to that, uh- 'Darkling' stuff. Word is, Agent Fusion thinks the same thing." he said.

The girl blinked. "Agent Fusion did? Wha-... What else did he say?" she asked. The man smiled. "Oh yeah, you still ain't met our resident super star slash super spy, have ya?" he asked.

The girl silently shook her head.

"Well, I'm sure you'll bump into each other eventually. Just look for some kinda random explosion- no doubt he'll be involved somehow..." he muttered.

"It, uh... It sounds like you know him pretty well..." muttered the girl. The man shrugged. "You could say that. We kinda grew up together." he muttered.

There was a long, awkward pause- until the man finally let out a sigh.

"You really don't like small talk, huh?" he asked. The girl frowned. "I didn't join the BTSO to make small talk." she said. The man shrugged. "Whatever, kid. Go on, now. You'd best get the mission." he said.

The girl nodded, and left.

The man sat there all alone for a while. "'Cindy Vortex', huh?" he muttered. "I hope somebody knows what they're doin', recruiting kids into our line of work..."

* * *

><p>Jimmy rubbed his tired eyes, and took a deep breath. He had been standing in the same spot in Ol' Bobs Gift Emporium for what seemed like forever, staring blankly at the wide range of cards. There were cards for Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentines Day, and for some reason, an entire row of cards for Saint Patricks Day.<p>

Jimmy rifled through the cards for a while, until he finally came across the one he wanted. The rarest card in the entire store. A blank card.

He picked it up, and smiled to himself. He would write something in it later. He nodded to himself. Now all he needed was a good old-fashioned box of chocolates, and he'd be done. And he could finally get some much needed rest.

Jimmy trudged over to the front counter, picking up a box of expensive looking chocolates on the way. He could tell they were expensive, because the writing was in cursive. And in french. He put the box and the card on the counter, and stifled a yawn. "Just that, Ol' Bob..." he muttered, wearily.

Standing behind the counter was an elderly man with a long scruffy beard. He gave Jimmy a toothy grin, as he scanned the items. "Will that be cash or credit?" he asked. Jimmy pulled a handful of money out of his pocket, and put it on the counter. It was all money he had found in the Dump- but whatever stench or odd green liquid was coming off of the money didn't matter one bit to Ol' Bob. As he counted the money, he cleared his throat.

"Hey, listen... We just got a new shipment of Mega Pets yesterday... Don't suppose I could pester ya into buyin' one of 'em?" asked Ol' Bob. Jimmy frowned. "Mega Pets? What're they?" he asked.

Ol' Bob looked taken aback. "You ain't heard of these things? Why- they're all the rage all across the globe! Here- let me show ya!" he said. He ducked down behind the counter for a moment, as Jimmy impatiently rubbed his eyes. "Look, Ol' Bob... Maybe I'll see it next time- I've got a whole lot of sleep to catch up on..." he muttered.

Suddenly, Big Bob popped up again from behind the counter, holding something in his hands.

"Ya see?" said Ol' Bob. "Look at the little guy- ain't he the cutest?" he asked. Jimmy looked into Ol' Bobs hands, and immediately froze. There, sitting in Ol' Bobs hands, was a tiny little puff-ball.

Jimmy twitched.

"Gas... _planet_..." he muttered.

The little puff-ball looked up at him, and purred. He gulped. There was no doubt in his mind. The creature in his hands... was a Twonkie.

Something told him that he wasn't going to be catching up on his sleep any time soon.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>(AN: I decided to write this sequel more as a treat for myself than anything else- I hope people like it. I already know what I want to do in the next few chapters, but it might take a bit more time for me to update it due to various circumstances. Nevertheless, I'm going to do my very best to have a new chapter every week or two. Until next time- read and review! And remember... This is only the begining.)<p> 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Cindy Vortex and the Neutron Investigation

Cindy grit her teeth, as she angrily ripped open a bag of potato chips. It was only a few days ago that she had pledged to give up junk food- but all it took was another BTSO mission to sink that plan entirely. As she silently berated herself for her lack of discipline, she picked up her binoculars and got to work.

Her target was the home of Hugh and Judy Neutron- or more specifically, the boy who seemed to have moved in with them practically over night. Strangely enough, the Neutron home was right across the street from her house. And her bedroom window seemed to provide a perfect vantage point. From where she was, she could see directly into both bedrooms and at the right angle, she could also see into the dining room.

While holding the binoculars in one hand, Cindy kept lazily munching her potato chips, as the time dragged by.

After a few extremely long and extremely boring hours of this, a familiar ringtone suddenly cut through the air. Cindy sighed, and carefully set her binoculars down. After spending a few frustrating seconds trying the fish her cellphone out of her pocket, she finally took it out.

Her cellphone was an old flip phone, that still had a few old stickers on it from when she first got it. It was old- but it wasn't like she had the money for a new one. The BTSO were real cheapskates. Besides, old or not- it still had sentimental value. After all, it was the last gift she ever got from her father.

Cindy flinched, and shook her head. Ignoring the twinge of sadness in her chest, she flipped the phone open and brought it to her ear.

"Hello? Cindy Vortex speaking." she said.

"Uh, hey girl. How're you?"

Cindy smiled. She recognised that voice in an instant. Libby Folfax- her best friend in the whole world.

"I'm fine, I guess. Mostly bored." said Cindy.

There was a commotion on the other side of the line, until Libby's voice piped up again. "Uh-huh. How'd the uh- 'thing' go? Are you gunna go off on another one of your adventures?" she asked.

Cindy sighed. "No- not quite. I was asked to watch something. Apparently it might have a connection to... something else." she explained.

There was another pause, and more commotion from the other side of the line. "Something else? Do you mean... *the* something else?" she asked.

"Yeah."

There was more movement, followed by some loud noises on the other side of the line, before Libby responded. "I see... Well, you be real careful girl. Okay?" she asked.

"I will. Hey, uh- Libby? What's going on over there?"

Libby sighed. "Well, apparently Sheen's uncle runs a paintball thing- and somehow, and don't ask me how, he managed to get Nick, Carl and I to join him for somethin' called 'Painball-Palooza'." she said.

Cindy blinked. "_Really_?" she muttered.

"Yah-huh. We're kinda in the middle of it now and-" Suddenly, Libbys voice was cut off by the sounds of paintball gun fire. Then, there was a moment of silence- until Libby took a long, deep breath. "CARL!" she bellowed. "WE'RE ON THE SAME TEAM!"

From somewhere in the background, Cindy could make out the sound of Carl sheepishly apologising.

"Oh, I'll give you somethin' to be sorry about! Sorry, Cin'. I'll call you back. Someones got a world of hurt coming." said Libby. Before she hung up, Cindy could hear the unmistakable sound of Carl fleeing in terror.

Cindy smiled, as she put her phone away and turned her attention back to the Neutron home. It sounded like her friends were having the time of their lives. As time continued to pass at a snails pace, Cindy began to wish with everything she had, that something would happen. Anything.

Naturally, she was going to regret that.

* * *

><p><em>The car was bursting with music, as both the passenger and the driver sang along at the top of their lungs.<em>

_It was her crowning achievement. She was holding the trophy in her hands, as they drove through the night._

_And then it started to rain. The thunder shook everything around them, as the sky grew thick with black smoke._

_There was a flash of red._

_Suddenly, there was someone standing in the middle of the road. It looked like the silhouette of a child. _

_The driver pressed on the brakes as quickly as he could, but even as the tires screeched across the road, he could tell that it was already too late. They were going to hit it._

_Then, all of a sudden- the car was in the air. Flipping around. They barely had enough time to scream, before the car landed on its roof. Glass went flying in every direction._

_There was lots of noise. The passenger opened her eyes- but it was near impossible to see._

_"Cindy..."_

_Everything froze. The passenger could feel her heart skip a beat._

_"I'll... protect you... I promise."_

_Then, everything faded away._

* * *

><p>Cindy awoke with a start.<p>

"Damn it.." she groaned, as she lazily rubbed her eyes. 'Another nightmare about dad...' she thought. 'I wish it'd just... _stop_.'

The binoculars were still on the window-sill next to her, luckily enough. If they'd managed to fall out the window, it'd be game over for her. She only had the one pair of binoculars, and it'd probably take months to get another one from the BTSO.

She sighed. All of Retroville was bathed in the orange glow of the sunset as she groggily picked up her binoculars, and resumed her mission. As soon as she glanced at the house again, however- she noticed something. There, parked on the street, was a large black van.

Cindy frowned. In the espionage business, black vans were never a good sign.

Suddenly,the door to the small out-house looking structure swung wide open, and the boy she was supposed to be watching walked out. Cindy grit her teeth. She had spent the entire day watching the house- had he been there the whole time?

The boy looked to be lost in thought. Suddenly, the doors of the black van swung open- and some people quickly sprang out of it- making a bee-ling for the boy. Cindy hesitated for a moment. Because, all of the men- there were about four of them, were dressed from head to toe- like ninja.

Luckily, the shock didn't last long- and she quickly sprang into action.

Without thinking, she had already burst out of her room, down the stairs, and out the front door. By the time she had sprinted across the road, the ninja had already caught the boy, and were shoving him into what looked like a giant sack. Cindy wasted no time.

Before any of the ninja could so much as blink, she had already jumped into the air- and landed a flying kick into one of their faces. The other ninja launched into action at once. But Cindy was ready for them. As one of them threw themself at her, she grabbed his suit, and flung him to the side. She could hear him hit the side of the van, as another one of them sent a kick her way. She grabbed his foot, and twisted him around- sending him crashing to the ground.

The next one threw a punch. Cindy grit her teeth. Dodging it would give him a chance to close the gap between them even further- and she didn't know what kind of nasty surprised could be waiting for her if she did that. Suddenly, she felt some movement behind her. She smiled, as she moved swiftly to the side. Allowing the punch to land squarely in the face of the ninja who was trying to tackle her from behind.

As the ninja did his very best to apologise for punching his team-mate, Cindy ran over to the boy. He looked to be knocked out cold- and blindfolded for good measure.

Suddenly, something inside of her began to stir. She hadn't looked at him this up close before...

All of a sudden- she felt a rush of pain.

She recognised it in an instant. A taser.

She cursed, as everything around her went black.

* * *

><p>When she came too, everything was still black. She guessed that she had been blindfolded. She tried to move- but she couldn't. Both her arms and legs were in shackles. "Damn it!" she yelled. "I can't believe I let myself get captured! How am I gunna explain this to Commander Baker!? My reputation'll be <em>ruined<em>!" she exclaimed.

"Cindy?"

Cindy gasped. 'That voice... Where do I know that voice...' she thought.

"Cindy, is that you?"

She grit her teeth. "Whose asking!?" she demanded.

"Oh... Uh... J-... Jimmy. I'm Jimmy."

Cindy's eyes widened. The boy she was supposed to be watching... Had those ninja wanna-be's thrown her into the same room as him? Something about that seemed to both make her blood boil, and fill her stomach with butterflies.

"Do you know what's going on here!?" she asked.

Jimmy sighed. "I think I've got a good idea what caused this. I'm surprised they were able to move so quickly though..." he muttered.

Cindy frowned. "So this is all your fault, huh? No surprise there..." she muttered.

"Hey, it's not my fault! I'm victim here too, y'know?" said Jimmy. Cindy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Your probably always getting yourself into stuff like this. And dragging other people into it, too." she said.

"Oh, come on! I did barely anything this time! Besides- What're _you _doing here? Last time I checked, you had nothing to do with the Mega Pet Corporation." said Jimmy.

"I was saving you! I just happened to be passing by, when I saw _you _getting stuffed into a bag. So what- would you have rathered I just left you there!?" Cindy demanded.

That seemed to take Jimmy aback, as there was silence for a few good minutes after that. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Oh... Sorry... And, uh... Thanks." he muttered.

"Yeah, well- you'd better be sorry." she growled. There was silence again, until suddenly- something clicked in her mind. "Wait... Did you... You called me Cindy! How do you know my name!?" she demanded.

"Oh! Did, uh- Did I say that? No- I'm pretty sure you misheard me." said Jimmy.

"No I didn't! I heard you say it! Twice! Now answer me- how do you know my name!?" she demanded.

Jimmy coughed, nervously. "You know, the weather around Retroville sure has been nice recently..." he muttered.

"Don't try to change the subject! Tell me!" she yelled.

Jimmy sighed. "Look- even if I told you the truth, you wouldn't believe me. Nobody would. So... Let's just say... I knew you. A really long time ago..."

Cindy frowned. "I think I would remember you if that were the case..." she growled.

Jimmy smiled. "Oh, really? That's quite the compliment." he said.

"That was _not _a compliment!" yelled Cindy.

Jimmy chuckled to himself. It sounded strangely... hollow. Almost sad. "Yeah, I know..." he muttered.

* * *

><p>After being dragged out of the van, Jimmy and Cindy had their blindfolds taken off- and were quickly guided into an elevator. After spending what felt like eternity standing into the tiny sterile little room with annoying elevator music playing the whole time, they were then guided into a huge, lavish office.<p>

As soon as they stepped inside, music began to fill the air. The sound of a piano. And although it was a lot nicer sounding that the tacky elevator music they had just been subjected too, it still sent a sinking feeling into the pit of Jimmy's stomach. He sighed.

"Hey, Cindy- You should probably brace yourself." he muttered.

Cindy frowned. "For what?"

Just as she asked that question, however- she felt an incredibly foul stench invade her nostrils. At the very end of the office, was what looked like an incredibly large man, playing an enormous piano. Although the music was oddly beautiful, the smell- was not.

Suddenly, the large man began to chuckle to himself. "Hello, there." he said. Suddenly, a pair of bright yellow eyes opened up on the back of his skull. "It is a pleasure to see you." he said.

Cindy let out a small shriek, as Jimmy let out a long sigh.

The large creature stood itself up, and turned around. It's skin was murky green, and it had what looked like short dreadlocks springing out around the top of his head. There were three more thick, black hairs sticking out from his chin, and over his second chin. He was dressed in an enormous three piece suit- that appeared to be thoroughly torn and stained with all manner of things. It also had an extra pair of bulky arms.

Cindy recoiled in horror, as the enormous creature chuckled to itself, and picked up a large cigar. After popping it into its mouth, it lit it up, and took a long puff. The addition of cigar smoke to the already toxic vapors that seemed to be emenating from the creature was enough to make Cindy want to throw up.

"Hello, there Jellybags! I am-"

"The Junkman. Yeah. I know."

The Junkman paused, and looked at Jimmy. "Excuse me?" he asked. Jimmy sighed. "So you must be the one responsible for bring the Twonkies here..." he muttered.

The Junkman smiled. "Well, well- I guess we've got a smart one here. Yes, I am responsible for the entire Mega Pet Corporation!" he bellowed, before breaking into a hideous cackle.

Jimmy frowned. "But... Your not smart enough to have developed those microchips that prevent the Twonkies from changing... So, you must have a partner... But who could it be? It's not Calamitious- he wouldn't be able to finish it in the first place... And Eustace wouldn't let somebody else take the spotlight... Is it somebody I haven't met before?" he muttered.

The Junkman scowled, and slowly crouched down to bring his face as close to Jimmy's as possible. He blew a cloud of smoke out of his mouth, right into his face. "You really _are _a smart one, boy. For a jellybag, I mean." he growled. "But- not smart enough, huh? Did you really think we wouldn't put a safeguard in those chips in case somebody got curious?"

Jimmy frowned. "It was just a simply oversight. My computer wasn't running at full capacity." he said.

The Junkman rolled his eyes. "Excuses, excuses. That's all you jellybags are good for. Excuses." he growled. The Junkman stood himself up, and walked over to the piano. One the wall beside it, was a small red button. The Junkman slowly reached for it, with a smile. "Well, that- and you make a pretty nice meal when your minced into patties." he said.

Jimmy grit his teeth. "Wait." he said. "If you kill us- then you'll be missing out on a lot of money."

The Junkman froze. "Oh?" he asked.

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah. You see, Cindy and I- are agents from the Big Top Secret Organisation. You've probably heard of us." he said. Cindy blinked. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. She took a deep breath. "You'd better know what you're doing..." she hissed.

The Junkman rubbed his chins, and nodded. "Yes, I have heard of them. I suppose your suggesting that I hold you for ransom?" he asked.

Jimmy nodded. "Yes. The BTSO has a ransom rate of over a hundred million per agent. If you play your cards right- you could get a nice bonus. And best of all- your partner doesn't need to know." he said.

The Junkman thought for a moment.

'He didn't deny the partner thing... What the heck is happening here?' Cindy silently asked herself. She glanced at Jimmy, who was focusing all of his attention on the Junkman. 'You've got a lot of questions to answer, buddy...'

The Junkman cleared his throat. "Tell me, Jellybag- why should I believe you?" he asked.

Jimmy smiled. "Why not?"

The Junkman immediately burst into laughter. "Oh, you really are a smart one Jellybag! It's almost sad. Guards! Take them down to the holding cell!" he bellowed.

As the guards led Jimmy and Cindy back into the elevator, the Junkman turned around. As soon as he heard the elevator doors closed, he took another long drag of his cigar.

"Looks like I'll have to take this planet a little early..." he muttered to himself. "Well... I doubt Meldar'll complain..."

* * *

><p>(AN: Hey, so- It's been almost a month. Look- I rewrote this chapter almost a dozen times. Finally, I managed to get this much done- and I felt like rather than make the chapter twice as long and make everyone wait another month, I'd just post a short one. So... here it is. It's a little rushed, and I decided to push back a whole bunch of exposition. I wrote an exposition scene with Jimmy already- actually showing him scan the Twonkie. But, since he'll have to explain everything to Cindy anyway, I figured including that scene would just be... I dunno... superfluous? Is that right? I think so... Anyway!<p>

Happygolucky369 - Thank you very much. I actually have it all planned out in my mind- it's just... Getting difficult to get it out. Plus, there are other more personal reasons, too. But- don't worry about that. I'm sure this story will be just as good, if not better than 'Xyzcek Aden'.

Silverdevil18 - So, I kinda skipped Jimmy's investigation into the Twonkies... But there'll be more on that later. I have to apologize again for the delay. Unfortunately, I can't promise that it won't happen again, but I will try my best.

airauralintensity - Thank you very, very much. I hope you'll like it. Let me know how you feel about me switching between Jimmy and Cindy's POV like I just did- if it works, I'll keep doing it.

Guest - Yeah... Sorry. Delays... *sigh*

LegendOfTomorrow - Yep, I've got lots of stuff planned. Let me know if there's anything in particular you would like to see more of, and I'll see what I can do.

Everyone else- Please keep reviewing! It helps motivate me... And it's just a nice thing to do. Fare well!


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Jimmy Neutron and the Wrath of the Twonkies, Part One

Jimmy rubbed his eyes, and took a long, deep breath. By his own estimation, he had been awake for over two days now- not counting the few times he had fallen asleep for a few seconds in his computer chair only to jolt back up again. And also not counting the short time he had spent unconscious when he was abducted by the ninja.

Jimmy groaned. It was taking everything he had not to just lay down and go to sleep where he stood. The cell that he had been thrown into was small and uncomfortable- but Jimmy had fallen asleep in much worse conditions than this. He sat himself down, and took another deep breath.

'If only I had a few cans of Purple Flurp... I'm sure that the concentrated sugar... and... caffeine... would...' he was beginning to lose his train of thought, as everything around him seemed to fade away.

Suddenly, something snapped him back to reality. And as always, that thing was Cindy Vortex.

"Well?" she demanded. Cindy was standing over him with her hands on her hips. Jimmy yawned, and rubbed his eyes. "'Well' _what_?" he muttered.

Cindy grit her teeth. "Oh, I don't know. How about- 'Why did a big disgusting monster just threaten us and have us thrown into a jail cell? Why don't you start there?" she growled.

Jimmy sighed. It had been a long time since he had spoken to Cindy Vortex. Not since before the Xyzcek Aden incident- and that felt like an eternity ago. And in that time, he had forgotten just how... _distracting _she could be. He glanced up at her, and frowned.

She was more beautiful than ever. He didn't want to admit it- least of all to himself- but it was impossible not too. He hair was still tied in a ponytail. Only now- it seemed a lot shorter. And maybe, a bit scruffier. She was also wearing little hairclips. Three of them. A love heart, a kitten, and a dove. Something about that seemed a little too 'girly' for her, but then again- she always did have that side to her.

He blinked when he realised that he had been staring for too long, and shook his head.

"Well..." muttered Jimmy, as he did his best to ignore Cindys perfume, and the less than productive thoughts that were beginning to swirl around his head. "This morning... I stumbled across a store that was selling these little puff-ball creatures, and calling them 'Mega Pets'." explained Jimmy.

Cindy frowned, and nodded. "Yeah. Every place in Retroville sells Mega Pets. They're a world-wide phenomenon." she said.

Jimmy grimaced. "I was afraid of that..." he muttered. "Well, you might not believe me- but those 'Mega Pets' are actually an alien species. A very dangerous one. I've come across them before... They're called 'Twonkies'." he said.

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Don't tell me you're one of those crazy conspiracy nuts. What's next? Giant space chickens from beyond the stars?" she asked.

Jimmy nodded. "Well, yes- But as far as I can tell, the Yolkians haven't come in contact with Earth just yet..." he muttered. He thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "Anyway- Twonkies are incredibly dangerous. Although they might appear cute and cuddly at first- they have a unique ability to rapidly transform when they hear music. When they transform, they become immune to any weapon. From simple stun blasts to disintegrator rays. They're practically invincible- and incredibly destructive."

Cindy folded her arms across her chest, and frowned. "Are you kidding me? You think Mega Pets can do all that? They only grow to be a few sizes smaller than a soccer ball- and they're designed to be pretty much the cuddliest creatures on Earth." she said.

Jimmy frowned. "Your not listening to me, Vortex. They're alien creatures. All that stuff about the Mega Pet Corporation spending billions of dollars to design the greatest pet in existence, the junk about the decades of experiments... It's all fake. They were never genetically designed in the first place. At least- not by humans." he said.

Cindy frowned. The room went quiet as she thought.

"Let's say your right, then. And the Mega Pet Corporation are selling aliens and acting like they created them. Why? Why would they do something like that? And how is that big gross green guy involved?" she asked.

"That 'big gross green guy' is called 'the Junkman'. He's an intergalactic criminal. He mostly just goes around stealing things and then turning them into shoddy merchandise for a profit. But, I wouldn't be surprised it he did stuff that was a whole lost worse than that. He's the kind of alien that would do anything for money." explained Jimmy.

There was more silence, as Cindy appeared to mull over the information she had just received. Finally, she sighed. "Fine. Whatever. It's just another money-grubbing jerk to deal with, right? Alien or not." she said.

Jimmy nodded.

"Fine. I can deal with that. But I'm not sure I can buy that the Mega Pets are actually _aliens_... Besides- I sing to mine all the time, and he's never 'transformed' or anything." she said.

Jimmy sighed. "I suspected as much. After all- they could hardly have been sold to the general public for so long without incident, unless they had managed to find a way to suppress their ability to transform. I actually bought a Mega Pet in order to study it. And when I did, I found a small microchip imbedded in its core. Unfortunately, I must've set off an alarm or something when I did, because they managed to track me down just a few minutes later." he explained.

Cindy bit her lip, and frowned. "Were you... lying about being a BTSO agent before?" she asked.

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah... I thought it'd buy us some time..." he said.

"Okay... Well, then- if your not a BTSO agent or anything, then how could you possibly have the resources to perform a scan like that? I happen to know that our computers were unable to find a thing wrong with them. How do you know all of this? How do you know all about that alien? And again- how do you know my name?" she demanded.

Jimmy sighed. "Look- like I said before, you probably wouldn't believe me even if I told you." he said.

Cindy glared at him. There was another awkward silence, as they both sat there in the dark little cell. Finally, Jimmy cleared his throat. "Look- It won't take very long for the Junkman to get to the trust. And as soon as we're not worth money anymore- we're toast." he said.

Cindy sighed, and stood herself up. "Well, I guess we'd better get going then." she said. With that, she turned to face the cell door and carefully pulled out one of her hair clips. She aimed it at one of the metal bars, and pressed a tiny button on the side of the hairclip. Immediately, a thin red laser-beam burst out of the end of it, and made short work of the metal bar. It only took her a few more minutes to laser off the rest of them, leaving them with a nice big exit.

When she was done, she turned to face Jimmy with a triumphant look on her face.

Jimmy blinked. "Wait a minute... That looks like the kind of gadget that would come from... the BTSO." he muttered.

Cindy nodded, and puffed out her chest. "Yep- I'm the real deal." she said.

"I see..." muttered Jimmy. Immediately, his mind began to swirl with question- but he pushed them aside. There would be time for questions later. He took a deep breath, and nodded. "As far as I could tell during the short time I had actually studying the microchip imbedded in the Twonkie- I mean, the 'Mega Pet'- it wasn't just designed to suppress it's ability to transform. It was designed to control them. And if the Junkman -or anyone else for that matter- is able to make them transform all at once... Well, in a worst case scenerio- we could be dealing with a world-wide disaster the likes of which has never been seen." he explained.

Cindy groaned. "Well... great. So, no pressure then- huh?" she grumbled.

Jimmy couldn't resist a smirk.

"Yeah... No pressure."

* * *

><p>Libby Folfax took a deep breath.<p>

'In...'

'Out...'

She opened her eyes, and looked the eyes of her victim. He looked scared. His big brown eyes were beginning to well with tears. Either from pain, or anticipation. She couldn't tell.

She pressed her foot against his chest a little harder. He grit his teeth,and closed his eyes. He was bracing himself. Libby aimed the gun directly at his forehead.

A shot resounded throughout the entire forest. Then, there was silence. Until-

"We've got a winner!" a voice bellowed from behind a big group of bushes. Immediately after, a tall man emerged from the bushes, along with almost a dozen other men. All of them looked to be between their twenties and fourties- with one exception. And they were all dressed from head to toe in army gear. Each one of them had big splashes of paint one them.

Libby took her foot off of the boy on the ground, and watched him stand himself up.

"Wow- You were the coolest thing ever, Libby!" exclaimed Sheen, as he gingerly wiped the paintball shot off of his Ultralord mask. Libby took off her goggles, and rubbed her tired eyes.

It had been a long day.

After being talked into going with Sheen, Carl and Nick to a big event that one of his relatives was supposedly hosting, she had found herself in the middle of a full-fledged paintball war. The rules were simple. Take three shots- and you're out. And some way or another, Libby had managed to get through the entire event with only one blemish.

As all of the other members cheered her for her accomplishment, she sighed. "What am I doing..." she muttered.

After receiving both a trophy and a crown that said 'Paintball King' on it (with the word 'King' hastily scribbled out and replaced with the word 'Queen'), all of the participants were invited into an enormous picnic area for a celebratory barbecue. As some people took their seats at the long fold out table, others clamoured around the barbecue looking extremely hungry (Carl included).

Libby took a seat at the far end of the table, as far away from everybody else as possible, and sighed.

There was something wrong. She was sure of it. Biting her lip, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Cindy for what felt like the hundredth time. She grit her teeth. Nothing. Just a robotic sounding voice telling her that her call could not be connected.

She took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down.

Nothing good could come of worrying. She knew that. When it came to BTSO work, Cindy was always at her most cocky. She just seemed to exude self confidence. As if life threatening adventures were something of a calling for her.

Libby knew the reason for that. The reason she always threw herself head first into any new mission that came her way.

It had to be because of her father...

"Hey, Libby! Guys! She's over here!"

Libby was almost bowled over by the sheer volume of Sheens voice, as he raced over to her, and promptly took a seat next to her. "Come on, you guys! What's taking so long!?" he yelled again. From off in the distance, Libby could hear Nicks voice cut through the commotion around the barbecue. "We see you fine, you moron!" he yelled. A few seconds after, Carl piped up as well. "We'll be right there, Sheen!" he yelled.

With that, Sheen turned to face Libby. "Hey, Libby- you were awesome out there! I bet you could make it to the world championship! Or- the universe championship!" he exclaimed, as his eyes beamed with pure childish excitement.

Libby sighed- but she couldn't stop herself from giving him a tiny smile. "Neither of those exist, Sheen." she said. Sheen gasped. "What!? Well, why not!? Oh- wait, I know! We'll make one! Think about it- everybody loves paintball, right? We'd make trillions!" he exclaimed.

Libby raised an eyebrow. "I think you might be overestimating." she said.

Sheen thought for a moment. "You think so..." he muttered. "Oh well. Hey- Did you manage to call Sandy yet?" he asked.

Libby frowned. "Sandy? You mean Cindy." she said.

"Sandy, Cindy- what's the difference? They both sound alike." said Sheen.

Libby rolled her eyes, and decided to move on. "I haven't been able to get through to her yet... I... I've kinda got a bad feeling about it..." she muttered. Sheen shrugged. "Eh- she'll be fine. She's always kickin' butt. She's a lot like Ultra-Lady. Y'know, except without the laser arm cannons. Or the niceness." he said.

Before Libby could get a chance to defend her best friend, Sheen spun around in his seat, and took a deep breath. "HEY! COME ON YOU GUYS!" he bellowed.

Libby frowned. Usually, when Sheen did something like that- people would turn around and tell him to shut up. But when a few seconds of silence went by with no one else speaking up- not even Nick- she could feel that something was wrong. She got out of her seat, and look over to the barbecue.

Everyone was still there- but this time, they appeared to be gathered around something else. They were all standing there in a circle, dead silent. Libby gulped. She slowly made her way towards the crowd, despite Sheens loud protests.

Finally, Sheen caught up to her, just as she forced her way through the crowd.

There, in the middle of the circle of people, were a pile of different colored 'Mega Pets'. They were all twitching, and groaning- as their eyes slowly faded to black.

Carl let out a scared whimper. "Uh-... Fluffykins... Are you... Are you okay?" he muttered, as he slowly reached his hand out to one of the Mega Pets. It let out a deep growl, and Carl quickly withdrew his hand.

"Hey! What're all these Mega Pets doin' here!? I know! You guys probably brought 'em here to cheat with, huh? How shameful." said Sheen. Some of the other people sent Sheen an angry glare, while others looked guilty. One of them cleared his throat. "I just... I just wanted to let him have some fresh air or something..." he muttered.

Sheen huffed. "Well, you should've thought better! Don't you have any morals? Also- wait!" he suddenly stopped, and gasped. "Moldy Guacamole! What's wrong!?" he bellowed, pointing at the yellowish Mega Pet in the middle. Libby raised an eyebrow. "You named your Mega Pet 'Moldy Guacamole'?" muttered Libby. Sheen nodded. "Well, yeah! I mean, what else am I gunna name him? Mister Banana Pajamapants? That's dumb." he explained.

They turned their attention back to the group of Mega Pets, just as all the color began to disappear from their body. Within a few seconds, they had become completely translucent, and were beginning to push themselves closer and closer together. Until finally, they began to fuse into one big ball.

Everyone stood there, paralyzed with shock- as the ball began to twist and writhe. Then, it began to change shape. Color slowly came back to it, it blotches of black and red. Finally, it changed into the shape of a large creature. A massive mohawk of black hair began to sprout out from the top of its head, as its jaw expanded and opened- revealing several rows of razor sharp teeth.

Then, it stood up. The jelly like look of it began to harden, until it looked something like spray painted steel. The creature stood itself up on its tall, burly looking legs, and opened its mouth.

"NYAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!" its roar shook everything around it.

And with that, in perfect unison, everybody ran off. Screaming for their lives. Sheen grabbed Libby's hand without a second thought, and ran into the woods. "RUN, CARL!" yelled Sheen, as he and Libby moved as quickly as their legs could carry them. Libby glanced behind her, and was relieved to see Carl was catching up with them. Screaming, and crying- naturally.

The three of them kept running. They practically feel the monster chasing after them, and getting closer... and closer.

But when they finally stopped to catch their breath, there was no sign of it. But- before any of them could breath a sigh of relief, a high-pitched scream cut through the air. Carl, Libby and Sheen recognised it immediately.

"Oh no... Nick!" yelled Libby.

"What'll we do!? I thought he was following us!" yelled Carl.

"Forget him! He's monster-food by now!" yelled Sheen.

"You can't mean that! He's our friend now, remember!?" yelled Libby. Sheen grit his teeth. "He's not my friend! I never agreed to letting him join our group and taking the title of 'ladies man' way from me!" he yelled.

"We've got to go back and save him!" yelled Carl. "Even if he is a jerk... We can't let it him get eaten! Besides, Sheen- you're the one who brought him here with us!" he continued.

Sheen frowned. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, before he finally let out a sigh of defeat. "I guess Ultralord wouldn't let someone get eaten either..." he said with a pout. "Alright, fine! We're going back!" he yelled.

And so, Libby, Carl and Sheen ran back the way they came. Just as another ear-splitting shriek burst through the air.

* * *

><p>Jimmy grit his teeth. He tried to breathe, but all of his senses were instantly assaulted by her. The smell of her hair was beginning to make him feel dizzy. And it certainly didn't help that she was pressed so tightly against him. He held his breath.<p>

They had been walking through a variety of different hallways for what felt like an eternity- until they both suddenly found themselves being chased by a bright green dog. Luckily, they had found a janitor's closet, and managed to cram themselves inside before the dog turned the corner.

And so, there they were. Doing their best not to make a sound. They were both surrounded with all manner of cleaning supplies, all of which served to make the place feel even more cramped. It was dark, too. Which of course, didn't help matters.

She could feel her body pressing against his, and he could feel her breath on his cheek. They were doing their best to pull away from each other- but it was impossible.

Outside, the green dog was pacing back and forth. They could hear the sounds of its claws clicking against the floor. Jimmy gulped. He recognised that dog. It was the Junkmans dog, 'Roxxy'. 'She has to be guarding something...' he thought. 'Something important...'

He squinted, and tried to look around. As his eyes slowly adjusted, he caught a glance of something- and then blushed and looked away. 'Focus! Not on that! On the task at hand!' he told himself. He took a deep breath. "Cindy..." he whispered. "Do any of those hair clips of yours work as a weapon?"

Jimmy couldn't quite see Cindy's face in the dark, but he could hear her take a long, deep breath.

"No..." she whispered. "There's the laser cutter... a grappling hook... and the third one is just a kitten..." she explained, in as quiet a voice as possible. "And... I wouldn't advice just waving the laser cutter around... " she added.

Jimmy bit his lip. "Theres got to be a way..." he muttered. "I've just got to think... think..."

"Hey- I've got an idea!" whispered Cindy. Jimmy blinked. "Uh... what?" he whispered.

"Just, listen! I think I can set up a trap-"

"Using the grappling wire to tie her up?" asked Jimmy.

Cindy frowned. "Yeah... There should be enough to restrain its legs... And it's definitely strong enough to keep it in place." she said. Jimmy thought for a moment. "Wait... I think I've got a better idea. Could you pass me your laser clip?" he asked.

"Fine. Let me just... get it..." Cindy had to twist around in order to get her hand up to her head, leaving Jimmy in an even more awkward position than before. She passed him the clip, and Jimmy got to work.

After a few minutes, Roxxy was standing in front of the janitor's closet, with her teeth bared. Her nose never lied. They were hiding in there. She growled.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Jimmy jumped out as quickly as he could, holding what looked like the handle of a floor waxer. "Here, girl! Fetch!" he yelled, before throwing the twisted piece of metal as far away as he could, down the hall. Without a second thought, Roxxy turned around and chased after it.

Jimmy and Cindy ran in the opposite direction, as quickly as they could. Until, suddenly- Jimmy stopped. Cindy skidded to a stop a few paces in front of him, and spun around with a scowl. "What are you doing! We have to run!" she exclaimed. Jimmy shook his head. "No- this is where we ran into Ro-... The guard dog." he said, pointing at the massive steel door.

Without a word, Jimmy walked over to what appeared to be a key pad imbedded in the wall. For some reason, Cindy expected him to dust it for prints- or have some kind of algorithim ready to figure out the password.

Instead, he picked up the laser clip, and began cutting into it. It didn't take much longer than a minute for the doors to suddenly slide open. Jimmy took a deep breath. "If the Junkman had his pet guarding this place, then it must be important." he muttered. "So... let's go, shall we?" he asked. Before Jimmy could say anything else, Cindy quickly pushed past him and walked inside.

Jimmy frowned, and followed her.

It was a small white room, with an enormous board of buttons, lights and switches all over the place. Above that, was an enormous window into what appeared to be another, much larger room. Inside, were what looked like hundreds upon thousands of small clear spheres, all clustered together. Some were hanging from the ceiling, and others were hanging off of the walls.

Jimmy gulped. If he looked carefully enough- who could see tiny eyes inside of them. "This... this is an egg room..." he muttered. 'He must have done this so that he could implact them with the microchip before they were even technically born...' he thought with a shudder.

Suddenly, there was a loud crackling sound. Then, the Junkmans voice boomed throughout the hallways.

'This place has a PA system?' thought Cindy.

"Well look at you, Jellybags! You guys escaped in record time! Good for you." said the Junkman, with an unpleasent, wheezy chuckle. "I just thought I'd chime in since you apparently found the egg sanctuary, and all... It looks like that girl really is a BTSO agent! I was blown away! And yet... You, 'Jimmy' is it? You don't even seem to exist..." he said. "That really is pretty sad. Well- if it makes you feel any better, Jellybag... Your world is about to be purged of all life. And you'll get to join 'em."

Jimmy grit his teeth. "I'll stop you!" he yelled.

"Whatever you say, Jellybag. Say- what do you say I give the people watching a nice little show?" asked the Junkman.

Jimmy paused. "Wait... people watching?" he muttered.

"Yeah! Don't you know? Well would you look at that. And here I thought you were a know it all. You're on Apocalypse TV!" the Junkman exclaimed.

"You mean... Your filming the end of the world?" exclaimed Jimmy.

"Yep! It's a sweet deal, huh? I sucker you out of your money. I destroy everything, sell the footage of it to the network- and then sell the planet! It's so perfect it brings a tear to the eye!" said the Junkman.

This time, before Jimmy could say anything- Cindy cut him off. "You'll never get away with this!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I've already left your filthy little dust ball. Oh- and you should probably worry a little more about your own safety instead of worrying about little ol' me." the Junkman suddenly burst into loud, obnoxious laughter- as if he had just said the funniest thing in the world. It soon ended, with a lot of coughing and sputtering.

"Bye, Jellybags!"

With that, the PA cut out. Suddenly, the eggs began to tremble. And expand. Jimmy took a deep breath. "Uh... oh..." he muttered. Cindy frowned. "What? Whats 'uh-oh'?" she demanded. Jimmy gulped. "I... I think we'd better start running."

Back down the hallway, Roxxie was walking across the floor, holding the mangled piece of metal proudly in her mouth. She was looking for the big headed boy, so that he would throw the piece of metal for her. She wagged her tails happily at the thought of it.

Suddenly- she saw the big headed boy running down the hallway toward her. Along with the loud blonde girl. Her tails wagged even fiercer. She sat down, and waited for the big headed boy. Only to have him speed straight past her. She turned around, and watched him speed around a corner, and keep running.

Then, the ground began to shake. Roxxie turned around again, just in time to watch what looked like a tidal wave of transformed Twonkies, barreling through the hallway.

Roxxie blinked. Stood up. And ran.

* * *

><p>The Junkman's ship looked like something that had been cobbled together from pieces of an enormous garbage truck, and a few sets of enormous turbo-engines. It was one of the biggest ships in his part of the universe, as well as one of the most dirty. The Junkman had always been far too lazy to do any cleaning himself- and hiring help was obviously out of the question. Because that, would cost money.<p>

He loved money. More than anything in existence. It didn't matter what currency it was in, either. In the end, it all meant the same.

The Junkman sat himself down at his chair, and chuckled to himself. The idea of watching the whippy-dip looking jellybag suffer seemed really enjoyable to him- although he couldn't exactly figure out why. As far as he remembered, he hadn't met that particular jelly-bag before... but there was something about him that just seemed incredibly irritating.

The Junkman chuckled again, as he brought the cigar to his lips.

"Are things doing well, Junkman?"

The Junkman froze. Immediately, he could feel a cold chill run through the core of his being.

Meldar Prime was there, floating in front of him. The Junkman could feel his skin crawl. He had met Meldar many times in the past. First, as an art dealer. And later on, he was hired to help pillage the planets on 'Intergalactic Showdown' before they were blown to smithereens. He had developed something close to a respect for Meldar, over time. After all, they were both intergalactic swindlers.

However, something had changed. The Junkman could feel it every time he looked into his eyes. Meldar had gotten colder. Calmer. More calculating.

The Junkman had always known Meldar to be more of a showman, especially when it came to intergalactic villainy. And he was never one to share the spotlight. And yet, here he was- giving the Junkman all of the credit, and all of the limelight. It was actually a little unsettling. And although every now and again the Junkman could see flashes of the old Meldar in his eyes, it never lasted longer than a moment. Then, they would glaze over again. And he would go back to being completely reserved.

The Junkman cleared his throat. "Yeah, I ended up starting things a little early... everything will be destroyed in a short while." he said.

Meldar nodded. "Good..." he muttered. "Keep watch over this planet. Make sure that everything goes according to plan."

And with that- he just disappeared.

The Junkman took a deep drag from his cigar, and let the smoke slowly waft out of his mouth. 'There must be something more going on... Something bigger.' he thought to himself.

He blew the smoke out with a sigh.

He had a bad feeling. About all of it. But all he could do, was hope tha he was wrong.

He shook his head, and turned around to face the vast array of monitors he had all stacked up against one another in a big square. He chuckled to himself.

Well, at least he had a good seat to the show.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>(AN: So, it looks like updates are going to be a little slow, due to various circumstances. Nevertheless, I'll do my best to update as soon as possible.)<p>

LegendOfTomorow - Thanks. Hopefully the exposition at the start of the chapter wasn't too much of a grind... anyway- thanks again! The next chapter promises to be even more chaotic.

Guest - Thank you. I've already started the next chapter, so hopefully it won't take too long. This chapter got delayed because I ended up rewriting it. Anyway- I hope you enjoyed it.

Silverdevil18 - There's a bunch of stuff I want to delve into involving the incident with Cindy's dad- but I'll need to find the right time for it. Until then, I'm glad you've been enjoying it. Thank you for the kind words.

Happygolucky369 - Thanks. I hope you like this chapter too.

Guest - Thank you. I've got plenty of stuff planned for the memory stuff in the future... We'll see what happens, huh?

Thanks again to everybody who reviewed. I wish you all the best. Until next time!


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Cindy Vortex and the Wrath of the Twonkies

Missions for the BTSO always tended to come in all shapes in sizes. All of them dangerous. So to say that Cindy Vortex had seen a thing or two would be an understatement.

Still. She had never seen anything quite like what she was looking at now.

The entire hallways looked like it had been put through a paper shredder. The walls, the floor and the ceiling were all covered in hundreds of claw marks and bite marks. There were pieces of glass scattered all over the place- no doubt from the long fluorescent lights that had been attached from the ceiling. There were scorch marks on the ceiling as well, and some of the holes in the ceiling had massive arcs of electricity sparking out of them. Giving the hallway a sporadic blue glow.

But worst of all, was what she saw splattered all over the walls. The air seemed to get heavier and heavier with each moment that passed, until it felt like it was starting to choke her.

Blood. Everywhere.

Something in the back of her mind seemed to snap. Suddenly, there were images flashing through her mind, one after another.

Her fathers face... The smell of blood...

She grit her teeth, and shook her head. She couldn't let it get to her. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let those nightmares interfere with her job. Standing just a few steps in front of her, Jimmy appeared to be giving the blood a closer look. Beside him, the alien dog that had started following them around was sitting down obediently.

The three of them had been running and hiding from place to place for what seemed like forever in the enormous maze of a building they were in. And no matter where they went, they could always hear the little monsters chattering amongst themselves, and destroying everything they could put their manic little hands on.

It had been a little while since they had heard any sign of the little monsters, and Cindy had found herself feeling a slight feeling of hope. Which had quickly turned to bile in the back of her throat.

What if they had just moved on to some other innocent people in the building? Sure- they probably weren't all that 'innocent' if they were working in a building owned by a disgusting green alien, but still... Seeing what the monsters could do to metal and drywall... She didn't want to think about what they could do to a human being.

"Roxxy?"

Cindy almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of Jimmy's voice, as he addressed the green and purple alien-dog sitting beside him. "Do you think you can track whoever..." Jimmy paused mid-sentance to gesture at the blood splatter, "_this _belongs too?" he asked.

Roxxy turned her head sideways, and gave him a look.

"You know... Track the smell of the blood." he explained. "If they're injured, then we might be able to help them."

Cindy blinked. "Y-... Yeah! That's a good idea!" she exclaimed. "Listen, there's an alien-doggy snack in it for you." she said. At that, Roxxy began to wag her tails excitedly. 'Well, at least she understands what '_treat_' means...' Cindy thought.

Roxxy leaned over to the blood, and took a single whiff. Then, like a bolt of lighting, she stood up and bolted down the hall. Jimmy and Cindy followed close behind, both of them doing their very best to ignore the streaks of blood that continued to decorate the walls.

* * *

><p>Nick Dean grit his teeth, as he watched the sun set over the Retroville forest. He rubbed his eyes, and took a long, shaky breath. He had been sitting on the same tree branch in the same very tall tree for several hours now. And he had spent most of that time completely paralyzed with fear, as the giant red monster roamed around directly beneath him.<p>

He took another deep breath, and kept his eyes focused on the orange glow of the sunset. It was the only thing he could think of to help soothe his fractured nerves. Being trapped high up off the ground was not his idea of a good time. He had been afraid of heights for as long as he could remember, and having a giant monster waiting for him on the ground didn't help.

The tree branch that he was sitting on was fairly thick, and certainly felt sturdy enough. But that didn't stop him imagining himself falling to his death every few minutes or so. It was all he could do not to scream, and not to tremble in fear.

The monster would brush againt the tree every now and again, and give it a shove. It was almost as if it was playing with its prey. An idea that made Nick sick to his stomach. He took another deep breath, and tried to think of something else.

Immediately, _her _face sprang to mind. He felt his chest tighten. He didn't want to think about _her_. It had to be something else. Something a little less painful.

'This is all Este-whatevers fault...' he thought. 'If he wasn't a friend of Cindy's I'd have just refused to go... Maybe even given him a wedgie for good measure. And then I'd be at the Candy Bar, eating dinner or something... And not _here_.'

He sighed. 'What the hell is even goin' on around here?' he thought. 'I mean- I'm pretty sure Mega-Pets aren't supposed to be able to do... _that_.' he thought, as he quickly stole a glance at the big red monster below him. It was looking around, and growling. Aside from destroying everything in its path, that seemed to be the only thing it ever did.

Nick found himself clenching his jaw subconsciously. Hard enough that it was beginning to really hurt. He quickly looked away from the monster, and took another deep breath.

"So... what? Is this... going to be how I die...?" he muttered, weakly. He eyes began to well up, as images of his mothers smiling face, along with _hers _began to pass through his mind. He could feel his chest begin to tighten, like it was caught in a vice.

All he needed to do to keep those two relatively happy, was stay alive. That was the least he could do, to keep tears from staining their faces. Nevermind everything else.

Suddenly, off in the distance- there was a sound. Nick frowned. 'What is that?' he thought. 'Is that... music?'

It began to get louder, and louder. And although Nick could make out the faintest pieces of whatever it was- it was a different story for the big red monster. Iimmediately, it leapt to its feet and ran off.

A moment later, there came another sound. Although this one was much more... annoying.

"Psst!"

Nick twitched. He recognised that voice immediately... He didn't know anybody else with a voice quite as annoying as _that_.

"Hey, Nick! It's Sheen!" he called out from below.

Biting his lip, Nick looked down at the ground. Sure enough, standing at the base of the tree was Sheen Estevez. Standing with his hands on his hips, looking triumphant. "I have come, to rescue you!" he announced. Nick grimaced. "Why? Why you? Couldn't it have been _anybody _else?" he demanded.

Sheen shook his head, and grinned. "Nope! I'm the guy! Well- Carl and Libby are grabbing a tablecloth or whatever... But I'm the main hero here!" he announced.

Nick rubbed his forehead. "I don't believe this..." he muttered. Suddenly, he realised something. "Wait- A tablecloth!?" he sputtered. "Y-you... your not planning on having me jump... and you guys catch me... are you?" he asked.

Suddenly, Nick noticed Carl and Libby approaching Sheen. And sure enough, they were holding a big tablecloth.

Nick grimaced.

Sheen turned to face Carl with a smile. "Hey, Carl! Did you find it okay?" he asked.

Carl nodded, and looked at the tablecloth. Then, he glanced up at the branch that Nick was sitting on. "Are you sure this is such a good idea? I mean... What if the tablecloth isn't strong enough?" he asked. Sheen sighed. "Look- You guys're the ones who said we couldn't try chopping the tree down. What more do you want for me?" he asked.

"Well... You could try climbing it..." suggested Carl. Sheen rolled his eyes. "Carl, we've been over this! That'd totally ruin my manicure!" he exclaimed. Carl sighed. "Oh, yeah..." he muttered. Libby frowned, and crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't take manicures!" she exclaimed. "Why don't you try? You're always climbing trees at the Retroville Park!" she continued.

Sheen huffed. "I told you! That's only because I've got a lot of enemies in the squirrel community- and sometimes I go up there for peace talks. And also maybe to steal their emergency nut supplies. But that's it!" he explained.

Carl gasped. "You're the mystery acorn thief!" he exclaimed.

Ignoring Carl, Sheen moved on. "Why don't you do it, Libby?" he asked. Libby scoffed. "I ain't no mountain climber! Usually we get Cindy to do stuff like this." she said. Carl cleared his throat. "Oh, and I also can't do it because... you know... my scapula. And my trick knee... my heart condition... my lung condition... And I get this weird shooting pain in my arm every now and again..."

Carl continued to list his medical conditions, as Libby and Sheen continued to talk.

"Come on! Your athletic! I'm pretty sure I saw you climb a rope in gym once." said Sheen.

"A rope is different from a crazy tall tree, Sheen. Besides- aren't you the one who always want to do things that're 'dangerous'?" asked Libby.

"Well, yeah! But that's only when I'm in my daredevil mood! Plus- I'm not even wearing the costume! Look- I still think the 'catching him with the cloth' thing will work! I see it in TV all the time!" Sheen explained.

Libby sighed. "Alright, fine. But this better work! I sacrificed my cell phone for this!" she exclaimed. Sheen nodded, and rubbed his non-existant chin. "Yeah... Who knew playing music would work so well at distracting the big guy..." he muttered.

"Well, we don't know how much longer it'll be gone so... Let's just get this over with." said Libby.

"Carl! You grab this end- Sheen you grab the other one." she said. Sheen and Carl positioned themself as best they could, holding the tablecloth underneath the tree branch that Nick was sitting on.

"Alright, Nick! It's time to jump!" yelled Sheen.

"Yeah! And try to hit the cloth, okay? Because, if you hit the floor, you'll get really, really hurt." said Carl.

Sheen nodded. "Yep. If you don't just die, that is!" he announced. Libby frowned. "Ignore them, Nick! You'll be fine! Just jump!" she yelled.

"Oh, I get it Libby. Use reverse psychia-whatever on him... Yeah, Nick! It's totally safe now!" yelled Sheen.

Nick sighed. For a moment, he seriously considered simply living out the rest of his life in the tree. It wouldn't be so bad... On one hand, he wouldn't have much of any access to food or water... But on the other hand- he wouldn't have to do homework anymore...

After weighing the options in his mind for a minute or two, he finally grit his teeth. "Are you guys ready!?" he yelled.

"We're fine down here, Nick!" Libby called out.

He took a deep breath. Looked down, and fought every instinct he had... and moved off the tree branch. Immediately, he felt the wind smack him in the chest as he fell. Then, before he knew it- he hit the table cloth.

And bounced off. And landed on the cold earth in a heap.

Immediately, Carl, Sheen and Libby circled around him. "Are you okay, man?" asked Sheen.

Nick let out a tiny whimper.

"... I think... I broke my leg..."

* * *

><p>The hallway was starting to feel smaller and smaller, until it felt as if the walls were starting to close in on themselves. With every step they took, following the long trail of blood, Cindy could feel her nerves beginning to frey.<p>

She took a deep breath, but that wasn't helping. It felt as if all of the oxygen had left the hallways. Replaced by a thick black smoke. She grit her teeth. All of the lights had suddenly fizzled out a few minutes ago, and now the only source of light they had was the dull green glow of Roxxy's fur.

Cindy grit her teeth. 'Get it together, Vortex!' she told herself. 'You can't let a little blood bother you like this...' she took a deep breath. Suddenly, she felt a presence standing behind her. But when she quickly spun around- there was nothing.

Her hands tightened into fists.

"Are you okay, Cindy?"

It took everything she had not to jump- or let out a shriek at the sound of Jimmy's voice. Instead, she flinched and gave him a cold glare. "Don't _do _that..." she spat. Jimmy scratched the back of his head, and frowned at himself. "Yeah... Sorry..." he muttered.

Then, there was silence again. But, not for long.

"Bark! Bark!"

Jimmy blinked. Roxxy had stopped in front of a large, metal door with a large skull and crossbones on it. Near the handle, Jimmy could just make out what looked like a bloody handprint, thanks to Roxxy's dull green glow. He frowned. 'Whoever all of this blood belonged too... They must have managed to crawl in here...' he thought. He took a deep breath, and turned to face Cindy.

"Do you... Do you think you'll be able to handle this?" asked Jimmy.

Cindy frowned. "Excuse me?" she demanded. "I am a trained agent for the BTSO. I can handle _anything_."

Jimmy grimaced. "So... You have experience with dead bodies?" he muttered.

Cindy froze. "I... I didn't say that. B-... But, it's bound to happen eventually, right? In this line of work..." she muttered. "What... What about _you_?" she asked.

Jimmy's eyes grew distant. "Well... a few times. Never a _human_, though. I think I've gotten lucky... Oh- well, I guess there was that time we got attacked by ancient egyptian mummies..." he muttered.

Cindy shot him a confused look. "_What_?" she demanded.

Jimmy gave her a look, and then shook his head. "Never mind." he muttered. "Come on... If someone's still alive in there, then they'll need our help. And if they're not... Well..." he sighed. He could feel himself start to tremble just thinking about it. He shook it off as best he could, and took a deep breath. "Well then, we'll just have to deal with it." he muttered.

Cindy gave tiny nod. "Fine... _I'll _open the door..." she muttered. Before Jimmy could say anything to object, she grabbed the handle, and pushed on the door with all her might. It swung open, greeting them both with a wall of pitch black. Jimmy and Cindy grimaced, as the smell of blood began to waft through the air as well.

With Roxxy ahead of them, they wandered into the room as the smell of blood began to mix with the feeling of dread.

* * *

><p>Nick warmed his hands by the campfire between sending Sheen dirty looks. Naturally- he was completely oblivious.<p>

"Well _I _don't think Hamphred Hampdenshire _deserves _a second chance." said Carl with his arms crossed. Sheen gasped. "But that's not fair! He just got back from the great war! Of course he's gunna be a little distant and stuff... _I _think Clover Scufflebottom needs to just have a little more patience in him!" he exclaimed.

Carl shook his head. "Nuh-uh. She's already been patient. He needs to put some effort into their relationship too, y'know!" he said.

"What!?" yelled Sheen.

Nick was about ready to explode, and maybe launch himself over the campfire to shut them both up for good. Broken leg or not. However- Libby beat him to it.

"Will you two shut up!?" she yelled. "Nobody cares about your stupid British period dramas!"

At this, Sheen and Carl let out a collective gasp. "Libby! I thought you knew better! Updown Terrace isn't just some stupid British period drama! It's an _awesome _stupid British period drama!" he exclaimed.

Libby shook her head. "Look- I love Updown Terrace as much as everybody else." she said. Nick raised an eyebrow at that. He had never even _heard _of it. "But I think it went straight down hill after series three. Right around when they introduced that talking dog." Libby continued.

Sheen and Carl gasped in unison for a second time.

"What!? Ralphie is the best part!" yelled Carl.

Nick took a deep breath, and did his best to try and block the others out. Libby had helped him fashion a splint for his leg a little earlier. Unfortunately, they had to tie it onto his leg with the sleeves from his new leather jacket- which he wasn't all too happy about. Then again- it did give him kind of a machismo look that he liked.

As Carl, Sheen and Libby continued to argue into the night, and Nick indulged himself in some of his more vain fantasies, the big red monster continued to prowl the forest. They could hear it roar every now and again, and no matter what they were doing- they would all freeze. Then, after some time had passed, go back to arguing.

Eventually, they all laid down on the cold ground and one by one, slowly fell asleep. They had managed to find a cave that went pretty deep into a mountain- so they were at least _kind of _safe. As Nick sat by the entrance to the cave for his shift at keeping watch, he could feel his mind begin to wander.

Naturally, there were only two places it could go. Cindy Vortex, and Betty Quinlin.

He took a deep breath of the cold forest air, and silently hoped that they were safe. Or, in the very least- he hoped they were doing better than he was.

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><p>A line of beakers and bunsen burners were lit up with a dull green glow, as Roxxy, Cindy and Jimmy ventured slowly into the room. It was some kind of lab- that much was obvious by the sheer amount of lab coats that seemed to be lining the walls. As they ventured further, they began to see more of the blood. Until finally- everything stopped.<p>

It was a young man, dressed in the standard lab gear. His lab coat had several rips on it, as did the odd looking sweater vest he was wearing underneath it. All of it was drenched with blood- and it had started to pool all around him. He had thick, greasy black hair, and a pair of thick glasses hanging down to the very edge of his long lose. It looked like it had been broken, and hastily taped together in the middle. Probably more than once. One of the lenses was cracked, while the other was missing.

His skin was pale- although it was hard to tell in the green glow. Cindy could feel something in the pit of her stomach that made her want to be sick. His eyes were closed- and from what she could tell, he wasn't breathing. Everything around her seemed to fade away. Everything was going silent, and black... And all she could see was his face.

Her fathers face.

"CINDY!" yelled Jimmy.

This time, Cindy both jumped and let out a high pitched shriek. She shifted her focus to Jimmy, who was on his hands and knees next to the body, holding a tiny red case in his hands. "It looks like he was trying to bandage himself up when he passed out..." he explained. Cindy noticed a small sticker on the red case marked 'First Aid Kit'. "And I don't think too much time has passed..." Jimmy continued. Moving his hands as quickly as he could, he pulled out what looked like a set of stickers- attached to a long wire and a button.

"Cindy, I need you to pull up his shirt." he said.

"Wha-... What?" muttered Cindy.

"There's no time!" yelled Jimmy.

Cindy cringed. Jimmy's eyes were suddenly filled with anger, and desperation. He looked at her- and suddenly, it all went away. She was shaking. And for the first time in what felt like forever- he could see fear in her. She suddenly looked so... _fragile_.

Cindy grimaced. That was not how she wanted to look. Ever. She grit her teeth, and tried to push through it. But she only succeeded in making that sick feeling in her stomach worse.

"Cindy." said Jimmy. His voice was so soft it was almost unrecognisable- even to him.

"_Please_."

Cindy moved quickly, and quietly. She pulled up the mans shirt, revealing his pale hairless chest. It had a few deep gashes on it, and a set of three in a row across his stomach. She held her breath, and did her best to ignore it.

Jimmy quickly put the stickers on two places on his chest. "Alright- you can let go now." he said. Cindy carefully lowered the mans shirt back down, and removed her hands. She could still feel them shaking.

"Alright." said Jimmy, as he held the button in his hands. "Clear!" he yelled.

He pressed the button.

Nothing.

Jimmy grit his teeth.

"Clear!"

He pressed it again.

Nothing.

"Clear!" he yelled.

Suddenly, the mans eyes shot open and he began to convulse in a fit of coughing. Jimmy moved quickly. He pulled a small torched out of the first aid kit, and pried the mans eye open as he flashed the light in them.

"Seymour! Seymour, can you hear me!?" he called out. The man muttered something incoherently. Jimmy frowned. "He's lost a lot of blood..." he muttered. "Seymour! Seymour, stay with me!" he yelled. He turned to face Cindy. "Cindy! Can you wrap bandages!?" he asked.

She nodded absent mindedly, as she stared blankly at the mans trembling frame.

"Well, can you do some bandage wrapping, please!?" exclaimed Jimmy. Cindy quickly drew a deep breath. "Of course." she said. And with that, she got to work.

Roxxy watched in fascination, as the two of them worked together- seemingly in perfect sync.

Those two made a pretty good team.

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><p><em>To be continued...<em>

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><p>(AN: So, again- another delay. It's been getting harder and harder for me to write recently- and it doesn't help that I also want to write stories for other fandoms as well. It looks like this story is going to be updated much less frequently than the first one was, and I do apologise for that. I hope you guys'll keep reading this story despite that, since they're some cool things in the works...)<p>

(PS: I think chapters are going to be a little shorter now, too. Let me know if you would rather I went back to the massive chapters, or kept them around this size from now on.)

Silverdevil18 - Oh, I wouldn't call Meldar and Junkman 'partners' necessarily... More on them next time. Thank you so much for reading, and more than that- for reviewing! You were one of only two reviews I got last time, which was a little disheartening for me, since I do put a lot of effort into this thing. I know I shouldn't be writing for reviews- but it does help. Enourmously. So, thanks again.

88MilesPerHour - Evil Jimmy might not come in until a while later, and there'll be more on Betty Quinlin after the Junkman/Twonkie arc is finished. Which should be sooner rather than later. I hope to do more with Cindy as a BTSO agent soon, too. As well as maybe some stuff on why she decided to join them... On another note, the universe that all of this stuff is happening in, is one where 'Jimmy Neutron never existed' so nobody should have any memory of him whatsoever. Even Miss Quinlin. Evil Jimmy might be a different story, though...  
>Thank you so much for reviewing. It means a lot, and I hope you'll like this chapter. By the way, based on your profile name and picture... How do you feel about the show 'Rick and Morty'?<p> 


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